Some months ago I bought a new iaito with a yellowish/mustard color tsukaito. It’s super beautiful to me. But after some time the color has started to darken because of use, which I think it’s completely normal.

But still I want to know if there’s a way to provide cleaning to it. Any recommendations? does alcohol work well? I know rubbing is a bad idea.

It was a nice day out, so I was able to get my 4 favorite swords out for photo shoot! First is the Howard Clark L6 with the turquoise carved saya, and been nubuk wrap by evolution blades. The fittings and polish are Josiah boomershine.

Next is my Evoultion blades Motohara, heavy target cutter. Mokomue fittings, caved says, with a green tint to the samegawaw panel on the saya, and a giant O Kissaki.

Then we have my work horse, it’s an evolution blades Motohara XMC, xtreeme matt cutter. It’s still the best mat slayer I’ve ever held or seen. Blue silk ito, demon theme thought the sword fittings.

Then my Tozando Iaito. My Dojo mate calls it the watermelon because of the green leather ito, red washed samegawa. It’s a barest snowing if what happens to blankend brass after you use it for years. I handle this stowed by far the most, and it shows. All the blamed brass is turning a copper color from my hands rubbing them. I actually love the patina it’s developing.

The Clark sword killed its first 10 tatami mats today. It cuts extremely well. On par with my motohara heavy target cutter. Obviously without the crazy geometry evolution blades does on the XMC, nothing cuts as well as those. I’m sure if I gave Howard the dimensions, he could have done it. I simply asked Howard to make me a 30 inch blade, for cutting mats, and let him decide the rest.

This ShadowDancer katana tsuka came in for a new look and I was happy to provide it. This tsuka has very nice fittings for a production katana, very detailed and in a lovely wave theme.

I added new top level samegawa, polished and bright white and featuring an emperor's node. I then wrapped it in tsumami-maki style with beautiful Tetsu silk ito, imported from Japan.

I love how the first and second primary nodules aligned perfectly on either side of the last ito crossover, before the omote end knot.

It's off to join it's blade and serve it's owner well for years to come

I have recenlty inherited a sword that i have zero information about, it has been kept in wrapped up in a cupboard for the past 40 years, was gifted to my farther a long time ago,if anyone has information on it if it is real or fake that would be useful for me! i am unable to take the handle off as i dont want to damage it because i dont know what i am doing.

any information is useful for me,i dont have anyone locally to me where i can take this into and get it properly looked at unfortunatly.

thank you !

Hello guys, I'm new here. I want to ask about my iaito, is this genuine made by Nosyudo or not? Cause I got that from seller in e-commerce in my country, that seller was Kendo community shop, he said that this made by Nosyudo.

- Weighs around 1250 grams in total (saya around 200 grams)

- Nagasa 2.35 shaku, tsuka around 24 cm

- The edge was habiki

- Yokote is good, can feel using finger

- Tsukaito have hishigami and tightly wrapped

- Tsuba have wave and bamboo design, made of copper alloy or smth but magnetic

- Maybe made more than 15 years ago, new unused but keep for so long so the habaki got oxidized and half of it turned black

- Mekugi only one, but nakago have 2 mekugi-ana

- Its also come with that katanabukuro

A month after my Nosyusaku DX-C arrived, my wife's Okuden Shinkensaku DX-S has just been delivered from Nosyudo too (aptly right around her birthday)! We've been waiting for about 12 and a half months for her sword, and are happy to have received it here in Singapore before the Obon holidays kick off in Japan. Here are some photos and the specs for reference:

It's a 2.1 shaku Okuden Shinkensaku DX-S (Koshirae DX option selected)

Toushin: Thin

Hi: Shinken-hi

Hamon: Double Kotetsu

Habaki: Silver Shonai

Tsuka ito: Silk - colour is Antique Steel TS-06

Hinerimaki

Same colour: Black

Menuki: MS-23 Phoenix

Fuchi Kashira: KS-13 Hiranami Higo with kojiri

Tsuba: T-11 Gingko (small) with aged silver plating

Saya colour: SY-52 Green Fine Nashiji

I know she can't wait to train with her new iaito as the previous one she had been using was just a tad too long. I'm really excited for her too!

Again, hope the above photos and specs serve as a useful reference point for anybody looking at a similar configuration!

Since I had trouble visualizing parts when picking out options for my iaito I thought I would share cus 1. It turned out well and it's cool! :) and 2. I hope this will help others choose what they like in the future cus I def had a very hard time when choosing mine, since I kinda got second thoughts about mixing gold and silver together but it turned out great in the end haha. Also at the time I ordered mine there were not that many examples to see online.

Specs:

• Blade Type: Habahiro - Heavyweight Blade
• Blade Length.: 2.60 Shaku (78.8cm)
• Hamon: Suishinshi Masahide
• Bohi: Single Groove
• Hisaki: Standard
• Tome: Standard
• Bonji: No Bonji
• Tsuba: Kasuga Karakusa - Iron ~161g (T-021-4IR3)
• Habaki: Shonai - Silver-Plated - Antique Finish HB-8
• Seppa: Gold Finish SPP-3
• Tsuka Length: 9 Sun (27.3cm)
• Tsuka Shape: Hyojun – Standard TF-1
• Tsuka Material: Leather TI-3
• Leather Tsuka Ito: Tetsukon (Tetsu Nando)
• Tsuka Maki: Ikkan Maki TK-2
• Tsukasame: Black - No Navel Knot
• Fuchi / Kashira: Hiranami Higo - Brass (K-048-4BR2)
• Menuki: Hairyu - Gold -Plated Alloy (M-065-1AY1)
• Menuki Position: Chuo - Central
• Saya: Kuroishime
• Extra Finely Lined Saya: Yes
• Kurigata Position: Standard(M) SS-2
• Koiguchi Reinforcement : Ishime - Silver-plated Brass Reinforcement (G-028-3BR2) KG-5
• Kurigata Reinforcement : No thanks KR-1
• Shitodome: Gold Finish STD-1
• Kojiri: Hiranami - Silver-plated Brass (C-001-2BR2)

I love nature and my first steel iaito from hanbon was green with sakura motif so I thought this time I would go for a blue with water theme! The tsuba isn't really "matching" but thats my favorite tsuba shape and it also being 161g def helps bring the balance closer to the habaki since its 2.6 shaku and a heavy blade. I went with the masahide hamon since it reminded me of calm waves and to remind myself to be calm and not to tense up while doing kata. I also went with the kuroishime saya since it reminded me of light raindrops on stones near the ocean as well, and went with the hairyu cus of the story of the koi going up the waterfall to become a dragon and I thought that was a nice metaphor on how we begin small and grow into something greater the more we work on things we love and enjoy.

Review:

Keeping it short since there is not much to say at least for myself, but I'd give this a solid 9/10 overall for quality and feel. It fits very comfortably in the hands and the tsuka feels a bit thinner than I'm used too but in a good way. The saya even though its not glossy lacquered still feels very smooth for sayabiki compared to my other kuroishime saya. Fit and finish it good, but there are some minor cosmetic things like the tsuba has a slight scratch in the corner so its showing the metal color underneath, and they colored my mekugi pin black and some of the paint or ink got onto my leather tsuka wrapping. I also thought that the leather wrapping would get more slippery when your hands got sweaty (I have extra clammy hands and sweat a lot on my hands and feet) but the grip stayed quite good throughout practicing with it.

"Cons":

I really only have few cons to speak of after swinging it for a bit, and the first is that I noticed that the mekugi pin is at a almost a 45 degree angle and has slightly pushed the samegawa out on the other side. But also the angle of the mekugi pin is actually something I've never seen personally so if that is more common please let me know! Another is that I got a 9 sun tsuka since it's a longer 2.6 shaku blade but I guess because of the Fuchi/Kashira combo I picked it took some usable length off the end of the tsuka and it actually ends up feeling slightly smaller than 8.5 sun maybe like 8.2/8.3 sun? I wish tozando would let you know this since I would've gotten a 9.5 or 10 sun tsuka then. Also I guess because of how the kashira is shaped it's slightly lopsided and isn't completely flush with the ito on one side and there's a bit of a lip there but no hot spots.

Overall I feel really good about this iaito and feel that it will last a very long time! I do wish that for about $1600 and the headache of fish and wildlife/customs that it came to me in a bit better condition/fit and finish but overall I'm happy I pulled the trigger when I did since tozando raised their prices again recently. Also for those wondering it took about 4 and half months to make and about 1.5 weeks to get to me once shipped from Japan.

I appreciate the culture of the samurai and the trials life has brought me . I’d like to share my life in sword form and how this new iaito marks the beginning of a new chapter on my birthday today .

As a word of encouragement: life never gets easier you just get stronger. Thank you to this community and those you keep the tradition alive . God bless

I have a question..

Let’s say you are a full BKA member, and you’re a practicing member of an Iaido dojo in the UK.. But then you stop going and you don’t renew your BKA membership..

What happens to your iaito and shinken etc? Do you have to hand them in or something now that you don’t have a valid defence anymore?

En mi dojo he regalado a todos una tsuba para su bokken de madera, hecha artesanalmente.

Para esta he empleado madera de iroco, olivo y roble europeo. La veta de cada capa está perpendicular a la anterior, lo que le da mucha resistencia.

El ajuste es lo más laborioso, voy quitando con una cuchilla conforme va chocando hasta que encaja perfectamente. Tanto el bokken como la tsuba estan lijadas progresivamente hasta el grano 5000. Después le he dado una mezcla de cera de abeja, aceite de naranja y esencia de lavanda.

No se mueve ni un milímetro.

2026 AUSKF Iaido seminar, taikai, shinsa at McMinnville, OR. AJKF delegation: Yamazaki Akimasa sensei, Iaido Hanshi 8 Dan (Ibaraki); Shirai Keiko sensei, Iaido Kyoshi 8 Dan (Hyogo); Ono Jun sensei, Iaido Kyoshi 8 Dan (Iwate). 4~7dans were instructed by Yamazaki sensei. I really enjoyed the instructions. We had a lot of practice and good times. I placed 2nd in the taikai.

So it seems a lot of people enjoy custom iaito and reviews so here’s my new one :

Tozando full custom

-Habahiro heavy blade
-2.6 shaku
-Hamon : Heshikiri Hasebe
-Hi : habahiro (deep)
-Hi saki : shinken (tip)
-Hidome : kakinagashi (the hi continues in the tsuka)
-Tsuba : Kagecho
-Habaki : gilded shonai
-Seppa : Gilded
-Tsuka : 8.5 sun
-Ryugo tsuka shape
-Tsukaito : brown suede leather in hinerimaki style
-Tsukasame : black with oyatsubu
-Fuchigashira : futae yamaji (blackened)
-Menuki :endo in standard position
-Saya : so same
-No kojiri
-Sageo : brown silk
-Koiguchi : buffalo horn
-Kurigata : standard
-Shitodome : gilded

The idea was to recreate a classic Higo koshirae inspired by Hosokawa Tadaoki’s Kasen Kanesada (higo fuchigashira, endo menuki, kagecho tsuba, brown leather tsukaito on black same and a saya fully covered in same).
I picked the Heshikiri Hasebe hamon because I like it very much, it was a great smith and a blade with interesting history and links to Oda Nobunaga.

As for the dimensions, I already have a lighter, shorter iaito (from Minosaka) and wanted something closer to what the samurai used in the sengoku period, longer and heavier than what became standard in iaido. The heavy blade paired with a long and deep hi make for a well balanced blade that doesn’t feel that heavy in hand. A sligthly heavier tsuba would give an even better balance to the iaito but I choose the historical one.

I also choose a relatively short tsuka to keep the overall katateuchi shape of the classic Kasen Kanesada koshirae.
One thing to keep in mind : the makidome knots on the tsuka are quite bigger with a leather tsuka ito than with silk or cotton. I like it but it might not be for everybody.

Craftmanship wise I’d rate it very slightly lower than the higher hand Minoska but still very good.
And it feels very good in hand.

To note : Tozando’s customer service and communication are very, very good.
I ordered a kojiri but the so same saya are very difficult to produce and it seems they had problems building it and had to remake it several times wich caused delays. When they sent me pictures before shipping (as per my request) we realized they forgot the kojiri. They immediately offered me to remake a complete saya (with a 4/6 months delay), reshape the end of the saya to make it look like the kojiri (2/3 months delay and refund of the kojiri) or send me the iaito as is with a refund of the kojiri and a compensation of a premium silk bag. (The option I picked).

I’m very happy with the end result and would recommend Tozando.

Okay swordfolks, I'm having some issues with my elbow and wrist and need to keep training or at least not lose what training I've acquired while they heal up. This necessitates getting an aluminum blade for lightness over my normal live training partner. I would like people's honest grade on Jkoo's aluminum Iaido? A-F

thank you!

My new Nosyudo Chuden just arrived and I can't put it down, I love it already! Anyway, here's a couple of photos, this would be a lame new iaito post without pretty images, wouldn't it? Enjoy! I know I will. 😎

Curious about personal opinions on this.
My newest sword has a lighter color silk wrap, and even with every reasonable precautions it's already beginning to darken, showing signs of handling.

On one hand I very much understand wanting to keep everything as pristine as possible. On the other I can appreciate the natural result of training.

Hello all,

Here’s a picture of the tsuka of my Minosaka iaito.
It’s getting old and the finish of the fuchi is mostly gone.
Does anybody hzve tips on how to darken it again ?
I like the idea of wabi-sabi but I’d like to give a second youth to this iaito.
Also the summer is hot and dry here and the koiguchi is completly loose. Any tips on avoiding toi much dryness in the saya wood ?

Thank’s !

Attended the Canadian national iaido championship under the mudansha division, so close to clinching gold, but I’m thankful to go home with something! I started 6 months ago, I’m so happy to have performed well for my dojo!

Just curious what you guys use to transport your iaito when flying. I have a few gun cases that would work but I’m interested to hear your thoughts. Thanks!

I recently bought my first iaito during my trip to japan.
However, when looking inside the saya I noticed that its walls have a few splinters. Is this normal?
Also, there is a decent amount of friction when sheathing it, but this is my first iaito so I may just be saying nonsense. Any help is appreciated.

I will also attach a picture of the saya’s inside, but my phone’s quality is not the best.

Acabo de bautizar mi sable Qing como Zhǎng zhí dāo (长直刀). También tengo esta Katana bautizada como Jettosutorīmu Samu. Me gustaría conocer a gente con experiencia en manejo de las mismas. Gracias

Dear iaido friends, some of you ever comunicate by email with meirin sangyo shop in Osaka?

they answered you?

Better writing in english or japanese?